~ An Introduction ~

In Maine we had an electric table top water fountain that had water flowing down steps and over stones. When I moved to Hawaii, among the few things I either brought or shipped were these stones which I decided to place on a square plate as a centerpiece on my dining table. At the time, I had no idea why I wanted these stones with me as I started a new life.

Welcome

Shortly after David and I connected he gave me two engraved stones, “Dream” and “Inspire”. These were placed on an end table. A few months later, a friend visited the islands, and as a gift, Judy serendipitously, brought seven engraved stones.

It was at this time, I was inspired with the idea, that I should have twelve engraved stones, and write about them in spiritual terms, and weave my story of how I had gotten to the spiritual place I was in my life. Before I left Maine, A psychic told me she saw me at a library table signing books. I immediately thought she was talking about my former husband who had embarked on a new career as an author and was traveling around the world sharing his spiritual message at workshops and book signings. I had been encouraged by numerous friends and acquaintances to tell my story, as I had been mentioned in those books and they thought there was more to be told. I had no idea that I had anything that anyone would want to read. But that inspired idea was always at the back of my mind. What if?

Christian and Cecile became fast friends when they came to Hawaii a few months later. We had met on a social media site, and when we personally met, it was as if we had always known each other. They tell the story that after they left Hawaii and were in Seattle, they were at a market where the lady at the market gave them the stone “Forgive”. They knew it belonged with the other stones I had and the stone travelled with them around the world, until they came back to Hawaii. How wonderful to think this stone went completely around the world!

My mother gave me the “Gratitude” stone. Other than “Forgive”, these were the only two stones I knew belonged in the group. Kelli, who was also visiting the islands gave me the last stone “Heal”, as she had healed a relationship and no longer needed it.

So that completed a total of twelve stones. There are many more stones that I could have chosen, but these were the ones that were in the right place at the right time. Twelve is a symbol of cosmic order. Significant symbols of twelve include the Western and Chinese zodiac which each has twelve signs; most calendar systems have twelve months in a year, and the twelve Apostles of Jesus. Twelve is the number of what is completed, which forms a perfect and harmonious unit.

When Lu and Dave visited the island at my invitation, we connected immediately. I was inspired by Lu and her spiritual work, and Dave and I realized we shared a similar path. On the evening before they were to leave, we briefly spoke of my writing, and a few days later she encouraged me to continue writing my ‘flowers of forgiveness’ and thus the title of this book was birthed.